Tuesday, January 30, 2007

MONROVIA The United Nation’s first women-only peacekeeping unit, comprising 103 Indian policewomen, arrived in Liberia yesterday, officials said. Ben Malor, spokesman for the UN’s 15,000 strong force in the West African country, said that the women would be stationed in the capital. Members of the group have said they hope that they will be seen as more approachable by women and children in Liberia’s postcivil war conflict zones. (AP)

Dinah is not sure about this action. Too Kum bah yah sharia if you ask me.

Bonus Kofi (bring your barf bag): Kofi Annan shares Palme Prize :Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Darfur human rights activist Mossaad Mohamed Ali have been named winners of the Olof Palme Prize for 2006 for their work to protect human rights, peace and security. The two winners will receive and share the 58,000 euros (£38,300) prize at an awards ceremony in Stockholm in May. Palme was a former Prime Minister of Sweden who was assassinated on February 28, 1986.

Arrests after 'adultery' stoningTwo people have been arrested after a couple were tied to a tree and stoned to death for allegedly committing adultery, Pakistani police say. They were killed in a village in Punjab province on Sunday. Police said those arrested were relatives of the woman. A law passed in December 2004 at the instigation of President Pervez Musharraf introduced the death penalty for some so called "honour killings". These are carried out because family honour is seen to have been violated.

Iraqi officials: Plot against clerics meant to aid imam's return(andyou know who that is! Poor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - he got spanked in recent elections, his mullahs are restless and now someone's horning in on his schtick. It's hard out there for a pimp!)"An apocalyptic Shiite cult leader claiming to be the messenger of a revered 9th Century figure was among more than 200 people killed in the fierce battles that erupted Sunday near the southern Shiite city of Najaf, Iraqi officials said Monday.Ahmed Bin al-Hassani, who headed a previously unknown group called the Soldiers of Heaven, was plotting to sow chaos in Iraq by assassinating top Shiite clerics in order to facilitate the return Tuesday of a messianic Shiite leader who went missing in 874, the officials said." (Hmmm. This assassinating top Shi-ite clerics is a new wrinkle)

(Here's where the stairway to heaven part comes in)"Najaf residents said Hassani had been driven out of the city after leading attacks against Spanish troops there in 2004 and had recently resurfaced using a new name. He claimed to have descended from the sky and said he had been in direct contact with the Mahdi, who told him he was planning to return Tuesday."

(Oops! Where did they come from?)"The discovery that Shiite zealots were preparing to assassinate Sistani and other top clerics has come as something of an embarrassment to the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has repeatedly identified Al Qaeda and other Sunni militants as the chief threat to Iraq's security."

Jermaine - who finished second in British reality show 'Celebrity Big Brother' last week - says the religion will protect Michael from "false" attacks.

Jermaine told the BBC Asian Network: "Michael needs to become a Muslim. I think it's a great protection for him from all the things that he's been attacked with, which are false.

"Michael has given conversion some serious thought."

Jermaine convinced Michael to leave the US after he was acquitted of child molestation charges and move to Bahrain.

He said: "There's a strength and protection in Bahrain.

"I was the reason he went there. I wanted him to get out of America and just go somewhere it's peaceful and quiet and people pray five times a day which is beautiful."

Hmm. You may have a point here, Jermaine. Remember Aisha? Mohammed's 9 year old wife? Heck, why not just send Michael to Iran. Ayatollah Khomeini was quite the lech with the little ones, if memory serves me correctly.

Here's one of his teachings you may not be familiar with:

Islamic Teachings on sex with infants:"A man can have sexual pleasure from a child as young as a baby. However, he should not penetrate. If he penetrates and the child is harmed then he should be responsible for her subsistence all her life. This girl, however would not count as one of his four permanent wives. The man will not be eligible to marry the girl's sister." (The complete Persian text of this saying can be found in "Ayatollah Khomeini in Tahrirolvasyleh, Fourth Edition, Darol Elm, Qom)"

Manama: One hundred and fifty Shiite community centres or maatams yesterday threatened to sue controversial columnist Sameera Rajab for claiming that they are being used to store weapons. Sameera, a Shiite activist who staunchly opposed the US occupation of Iraq and often criticised Iran for its alleged role there, made the claim during a lecture last month while talking about political developments in the region.But the community centres said in a statement that the charges were baseless and issued a statement yesterday denouncing the activist and demanding a public apology."We were shocked to hear and read that a columnist attacked Shiite community centres which have always been an integral part of our people and creeds. Her claim that the centres are being used as stores for weapons is a blatant aggression of our Islamic and national values, an obscene violation of the Bahraini constitution and the laws and a harmful desecration of social peace," the statement said.

The community centres said that they could not understand the motives and reasons behind the claims. "This senseless attack on religious icons is a threat to national unity and a source of division between the citizens of this nation. What the columnist said has crossed all red lines."Sameera, a Shura (upper) council member and an Akhbar Al Khaleej columnist who describes herself as a voice of pan-nationalism, waded into deep controversy three years ago with Shiites in Bahrain and in the Gulf when she claimed that Iraq's highest religious authority, Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, was a US general who facilitated the invasion and occupation of Iraq.Her regular criticism of Iran and its stances on developments in Iraq and its perceived role in the Gulf have also caused furore and earned her the wrath of the Iranian embassy officials in Manama.

"While we condemn the claims made by the columnist, we demand a clear apology from her for hurting the dignity of the nation and we call upon the citizens and government of Bahrain to take a firm stance against anyone who promotes divisions," the statement said.

"We reserve the right to take legal action against anyone who attacks the community centres without any evidence or proof."

CAIRO -- A 24-year-old Egyptian mother who desperately wanted to have a son committed suicide Thursday after giving birth to a girl instead of a boy, state media reported. The woman, identified as Mona Abdel Wahab, already had a daughter and recently delivered a second. Her husband told the authorities that she became depressed after the birth because she had wanted a son, the MENA news agency said. She climbed onto her gas stove in the kitchen and hanged herself using a rope attached to the ceiling, the agency said. The woman lived in the Nile delta village of Badr. Giving birth to male descendants is highly valued in rural Egyptian culture.

Monday, January 29, 2007

BEIRUT: Renewed panic spread among some Lebanese Monday, as a black balloon with a spider drawn on it landed in the heart of a Beirut neighborhood, a day after Israeli balloons landed in South Lebanon. "It is a terrorist act against our peace of mind," Khaled Qamaryeh, owner of a store in the neighborhood of Salim Salaam, told The Daily Star.His shop is located just a few meters away from where the balloon landed.The panic over balloons began over the weekend, when several fluorescent green and orange balloons branded with the Hebrew word Ha'ir (The City) drifted into the South from Israel. Five civilians were allegedly hospitalized with nausea, breathing difficulties and dizziness after coming into contact with the balloons, but tests have thus far turned up no toxic sustances and an Israeli newspaper said they were part of an advertising campaign.

"I didn't go near it as I was worried it may be filled with poison," Qamaryeh said of the balloon found in his neighborhood. "I don't trust the Israelis."Around 9:30 a.m. on Monday, a handful of residents discovered what they called "an unidentified balloon," near one of the roasteries in the area and immediately called in the Internal Security Forces and the army to investigate its contents."The balloon in Salim Salaam did not contain poison or dangerous substance," the head of Internal Security Forces, Ashraf Rifi, told The Daily Star.Police and forensic experts were sent to the site and quarantined the area as they tested the balloon for dangerous gases or other substances.

"We don't know where the balloon came from, but it is different in color and style from the earlier balloons discovered in the South," said Rifi.While there is no evidence of poison, Rifi said there is a question over the "timing."

"Israeli balloons never used to drift over to Lebanon, so why now?" he asked. "I believe it is an intentional act by Israel to cause further panic in a country already on edge," he added.

I call bullshi^ on this balloon business. I believe it is an intentional act by some bad actors in Lebanon to cause further panic in a country already on edge...

The holy scripture of Islam - the Quran - has become the top selling book in Denmark one year after the blasphemous caricature crisis shook up the Danish society and the Muslim world, the Munich-based Focus news magazine reported Monday.

The Quran was ranked second during the important Christmas book sales period.Buyers of the Quran include many young Muslims who grew up in Denmark but do not speak Arabic.

The Danish government has stepped up efforts in recent months to reach out to the Muslim community by hosting international Islam conferences and holding inter-religious dialogue seminars.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

"Kuwait issued a decision Sunday banning men from working in shops selling "private" women's garments like lingerie. The decision, issued by the ministry of social affairs and labor, gave businesses until April 7 to implement the ban or face a fine of up to 700 dollars for each violating worker. It said that special inspectors from the ministry would enforce the ban. The ministry also ordered its labor departments to stop recruiting male migrant laborers for employment in women's lingerie shops."

Back in 2006 they tried the same thing inSaudi Arabia. Heck, they went even further and banned them from selling hijab and abaya. They also ended up giving shopkeepers two years to make the necessary adjustments. Oh, and when the Saudis relented and said women could fill the jobs. 10000 women applied for the jobs. The adjustments? I guess that meant going from a B cup to a NO-C'em cup because:

"As well as changing staff, shop owners have been ordered to design stores so that nobody can see inside, and to install separate entrances for women."

What actually happened?

"...officials trying to open more doors of employment for women in accordance to ministry level decisions but facing resistance and objections from society. This was exemplified in the decision to allow women to work in lingerie shops.

The Ministry of Labor announced that it would enforce the decision starting June 18, 2006. Young unemployed women by the hundreds signed up for training in sales, store management and marketing at the JCCI and applied for jobs, but few shop owners offered them jobs or showed interest in accommodating them. They complained about the impracticality and extra expenses they had to endure to segregate the women employees from the men and to shield them from public view. Those who did accommodate women, faced angry objections from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice for not implementing the segregation measures strictly enough even though the Labor Office had already permitted the measures taken by the stores.

Eventually the ministry withdrew its proposals and made the decision to employ women in the lingerie stores optional."

I'm still checking, but I don't think too many store owner's have availed themselves of that option. So sorry, Saudi ladies, you girls have a real challenge over there.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

"No one would believe a fashion collection could be made in such a situation," Saab said in Paris yesterday, as he finalized the selection of models for his show.

"We are right in the heart of it. My showroom and offices are just 20 meters away. There are tanks, troops, hundreds of people chanting. Last week, the roads were closed, making it almost impossible for me and my staff to get to work."

He added: "I started my business in 1982 when Israel invaded Lebanon, so I have always known war and strife. But it is part of the spirit of the Lebanese people to compensate with beauty. I do my part with beautiful clothes."

This weekend marks the beginning of the Shi'ite Holiday - Ashoura. Ashoura day marks the Shiite Muslim's commemoration of the 7th century killing of their most revered Saint Imam Hussein. Al Hussein was a grandson of Islam's prophet Mohammed and is a symbol of martyrdom for Shiites.

Makes sucking helium out of balloons look not so bad now, doesn't it...

For a good first person account of today's Ashoura celebration in Lebanon- check out this blog Lebanese Days.

"As we pushed our way throught the counter-current of female bodies, one lady surprised to see westerners asked whether I was muslim. Considering the numbers, and the mood of the event, I answered yes, and spoke a few words of Arabic to appease her. " (Aargh - appeasement

From one of the blog's commenters:

Anonymous said...Ashora is a event celebrated from almost 1400 years ago. People may wonder that how this is possible that man/ women/ child weep like Hussain die today. This is the power of asuhra thats bring enlighten for those who r fighting against opperession, evil. I have a strong belief that no other event in history has such power which ashura has. Imam hussain a source of inspiration of millions of people in this world, no matter shia sunni, hindu, chirstan, charles dicken, ghandi, read their comments abt the event. One day the world will know the power of ashura.

The imam of the Taipei Grand Mosque complained to Taiwan's foreign minister for sending him a greeting card for the Chinese New Year showing four pigs, a newspaper said on Saturday. After receiving the New Year card, Imam Ma Hsiao-chi pointed out to the Foreign Ministry that the card was offensive to Muslims, the Liberty Times reported. Muslims do not eat pork and regard pigs as unclean animals. But the ministry defended Foreign Minister Huang Chih-fang's sending out the greeting cards, which were printed because 2007 is the Year of Pig according to the Chinese lunar calendar. "Sending New Year cards is part of our culture and has nothing to do with religion. Minister Huang sent the cards to people in Taiwan, not to Muslim countries, but we still want to thank Imam Ma for reminding us," the Liberty Times quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Chien-yeh as saying. The Year of Pig begins on February 18 with the start of the Chinese New Year celebrations, the most important holiday for Chinese all over the world. Last month, Taiwan's postal monopoly the Chunghwa Post Company Ltd issued the Year of Pig stamp, but warned Taiwanese not to use the stamps when sending letters and parcels to Muslim countries or Muslim friends. China has also banned images and mention of pigs in television advertisements aired over the lunar new year to avoid offending the country's Muslims. China's ban also applies to cartoons and traditional paper-cut images of pigs, and to slogans such as "Golden Pig Brings You Fortune!" and "Wish You a Happy Pig Year!" The Chinese lunar calendar follows the Chinese zodiac, or horoscope, which has a 12-year cycle. Each year is represented by an animal - rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

Amr Moussa, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Abdullah Gul, Foreign Minister of Turkey, Ahmed Mahmoud Nazif, Prime Minister of Egypt, Adil Abd al-Mahdi, Vice-President of Iraq, Mohammad Khatami, former President of Iran, and John Kerry, Senator from Massachussetts, U.S., from left, pose for a group photo after a plenary session on the Middle East during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007. (AP Photo/Keystone, Alessandro della Valle)

"An Israeli promotional campaign involving balloons caused panic among Lebanese civilians Saturday when the wind carried them over the border into southern Lebanon. The Lebanese media reported that some civilians were hospitalized after inhaling the gas in the balloons.(Editor's note: This is a sure way to liven up a birthday party! Suck some helium out of the balloons and serenade the birthday boy/girl. Works like a charm.)However, the photographs published on the Web site of Hezbollah's TV station Al-Manar show green balloons from a promotional campaign for Ha'ir, a Schocken group newspaper.

Lebanese sources said the balloons reached the southern Lebanese cities of Nabatiyeh and Tyre, and the Lebanese army warned civilians not to touch them. Some were brought to Italian UN troops for examination. Lebanon's official news agencyclaimed that they were "poisoned balloons" dispersed by IDF aircraft.

Sister Arzu Merali - No movie roles for her although I suppose she could always get work as a hand model!BRITAIN: NEW REPORT SLAMS 'ISLAMOPHOBIC' MOVIE INDUSTRYLondon, 26 Jan. (AKI) - Muslims have become the new 'bogeymen' of the British and American film industries, according to a study published on Friday. The report, which involved interviews with over 1,125 Muslims in England, Scotland and Wales, found evidence that all genres of film contained negative stereotypes" of Islam, Muslims and Arabs. Most Muslims surveyed found the media "Islamophobic" and felt negative images of their faith on the big and small screens correlated directly with their experiences of exclusion, hatred and discrimination in British society. Films ranging from action movies to children's cartoons portray "crude or exaggerated stereotypes" of Muslims, who are depicted as the "enemy within" bent on attacking the Western way of life, the study by the Islamic Human Rights Commission says.(Editor's note: Funny how art resembles life sometimes, isn't it?)

It claims that movies as diverse as The Siege, a portrayal of a terrorist attack on New York starring Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis, the British comedy East is East and Disney's Aladdin reinforce impressions that Muslims are violent and dangerous.(Editor's Note: Read the paper lately? Muslims ARE violent and dangerous, honey.)

The Siege promotes the "monolithic stereotype" that Muslims are terrorists ready to become martyrs in the cause of Jihad, while Aladdin depicts them as "ruthless caricatures" coming from "barbaric" lands, the study says. While "good Arabs" like Aladdin are given American accents, the cartoon's bad characters have "exaggerated and ridiculous accents," it notes.(Editor's Note: How can anyone take these people seriously when they say shit like this with a straight face?)

The blockbuster Raiders of the Lost Ark starring Harrison Ford also comes in for criticism: "The cultural stereotypes and scenarios are patently obvious," the report says, pointing to a street scene featuring bazaars, veiled women and bearded men in traditional dress, all set to snake-charming music.(Editor's note: Snake-charming music. Bwa-ha-ha-ha)

The film East is East starring Om Puri and Linda Basset, in which members of an Anglo-Pakistani family in 1970s Britain rebel against their conservative father, "fits into many of the negative perceptions people have of Muslims," and represents Muslim husbands as a polygamous wife-beating tyrants, the report notes.(Editor's note: I refer you to the Koran for proof that they are polygamous-wife beating tyrants)

Executive Decision in which David Suchet plays one of a group of Palestinian terrorists hijacking a Boeing 747 to launch a nerve gas attack on the US capital, Washington DC, "plays on the worst fears... about a potential terrorist lurking in every Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim-looking person, and the incompatibility of Islamic and Western values," the report charges.(Editor's note: Um. Islam is incompatible with Western values, dude.)

As well as deep unease with big screen portrayals, 62 percent of Muslims surveyed consider the media in general to be Islamophobic and 16 percent view it as racist, according to the report.(Editor's note: Tell me again, when did Islam become a race?)

Many saw the problems with cinema, TV and and also print media portrayals of Muslims to be "systemic" the report said. "The accounts of respondents indicate that the negative portrayal of Muslims is heavily present in films produced both in the UK and US. In the movies, Muslims are mostly portrayed as terrorists who randomly kill people (usually innocents) or blow things up - including themselves - or as hijackers, misogynistic or stupid, who cannot achieve anything and are therefore in need of continuous supervision," the report states.(Editor's note: Gitmo, anyone?)

The report's findings showed that such negative stereotyping has been been going on for at least 20 years, long before the 11 September, 2001 attacks on the United States, said Arzu Merali, head of research at the Islamic Human Rights Commission, quoted by the Daily Telegraphy newspaper(Editor's Note: Well, then by God, we deserved to be attacked, didn't we Arzu?????)Hmm. I wonder how they overlooked blaming the Joooooos!

BTW, the Islamic Humans Rights Commission is Al qaeda linkedand they actively troll for Muslim victims on their website perpetuating the muslim as victim myth. You should read the blather they put out - aw heck, never mind. Why ruin your Saturday night?

The wife of the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has given birth to their first child - a son they named Mirwais, Mr Karzai's spokesman said yesterday. Mirwais was born on Thursday evening in Kabul, and mother and son were doing fine, the spokesman, Karim Rahimi, said. "God gave him a son," Mr Rahimi added. "Karzai prayed for his son to serve the Afghan people." Mr Karzai, 49, married Zeenat in 1999 while she was working as a doctor with Afghan refugees in Pakistan, where he was in exile. She rarely appears in public because of Afghan Islamic tradition.

OUCH! That 'Dispatches' program is gonna leave a mark! Too bad you guys got all busted on your Islamic supremacism, hatred of Jews and Christians, and subjugation of women. That's a crying shame.Surprise. Surprise. Remember that Muzzie expose on BBC4 and the Internet that put the lie to all the Muzzie, "we're the religion of peace stuff"? Well, it really must have hit a nerve because the Imams are squawking. In their press release they whimper:

"...portray Muslims in the worst possible light. ‘Dispatches’ has opted for sensationalism over substance with total disregard for peaceful community relations.” And not only that: “This so-called ‘undercover’ investigation merely panders to age-old anti-Muslim prejudices by employing the time-honoured tradition of cherry picking statements and presenting them in the most inflammatory manner.”

“Allah has created the woman – even if she gets a Ph.D. – deficient. Her intellect is incomplete, deficient. She may be suffering from hormones that will make her emotional. It takes two witnesses of a woman to equal the one witness of the man.”

“By the age of ten, it becomes an obligation on us to force her to wear hijab, and if she doesn’t wear hijab, we hit her.”

“Men are in charge of women. Wherever he goes she should follow him, and she shouldn’t be allowed leave the house without his permission.”And then there are these little gems:“You have to live like a state within a state until you take over.”“We want the laws of Islam to be practiced, we want to do away with the man-made laws.” “Muslims shouldn’t be satisfied with living in other than the total Islamic state.”

“I encourage all of you to be from amongst them, to begin to cultivate ourselves for the time that is fast approaching where the tables are going to turn and the Muslims are going to be in the position of being uppermost in strength, and when that happens, people won’t get killed – unjustly.”

“Allah has decreed this thing, that I am going to be dominant. The dominance of course is a political dominance.”Oh, dear. Was that one too many Muslim cherry picked remarks to stomach? Can't do any more? Well, let me leave you with Robert's sobering observation."Muslims in Britain who sincerely reject the idea that Islam must be dominant and that Islamic law must be instituted in Britain, and that women and non-Muslims must be subjugated, and who accept the idea that non-Muslims and Muslims should live together as equals on an indefinite basis, should not condemn the “Dispatches” documentary. Instead, they should welcome it as a opportunity not only to expel “extremists” from their ranks, and to formulate a comprehensive rejection and refutation of their literalist understanding of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

But so far they are not doing that. Instead, the Muslim Council of Britain, the Muslim Public Affairs Committee of the United Kingdom, the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, and the UK Islamic Mission have all denounced the programas “Islamophobic.” None have taken even a single step to combat the spread of the understanding of Islam depicted in the show, or to mitigate the elements of Islam that incite to violence and inculcate Islamic supremacism.

And that itself is very, very telling."

Yoo-hoo! Moderate Muslims! Where are you? Do your self a favor and check out Robert Spencer in toto here.

Imagine being the type of father that is so twisted up in your own sexual identity that the thought of your daughter having sex unhinges you.

Sorry, I just can't do it. You know what? It's only sex and let me tell you in the grand scheme of things, sex is just not that high up on the list of mortal grievances. Unless, you are a Muslim, of course.

"A Jordanian man fatally shot his 17-year-old daughter whom he suspected of having sex despite a medical exam that proved her chastity, an official said Thursday. The man surrendered to police hours after the killing, saying he had done it for family honor.

A state forensic pathologist, who works at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Amman where an autopsy was performed, said in a phone interview that the girl had run away from home several times for unknown reasons.

Weeks ago, the girl had returned home from a family protection clinic after doctors had vouched for her virginity and the father had signed a pledge not to harm her, the pathologist said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the case.

"The tests proved that she was a virgin," the pathologist said. The girl returned home only after her father signed a statement promising not to harm her, he added.

The father shot the girl four times(four times!!!!)in the head on Tuesday. On Wednesday, an autopsy was performed that again showed "she was still a virgin," the pathologist said.

Authorities have not disclosed the names of the father or the daughter or even their hometown, saying only that they lived in a southern province.

The crime is the first "honor killing" this year in Jordan, where many men consider sex out of wedlock to be an almost indelible stain on a family's reputation. On average, about 20 women in the country are killed by their relatives in such cases each year. Women have been killed for simply dating."

Global human rights organizations have condemned such killings and appealed to King Abdullah II to put an end to them.

In response, the government has abolished a section in the penal code that allowed for "honor" killers to get sentences as lenient as six months in prison. Instead, the government has told judges to consider honor killings on a par with other homicides, which in Jordan are punishable by up to 15 years in jail.

But attempts to introduce harsher sentences have been blocked by conservative lawmakers who argue that tougher penalties would lead to promiscuity."

And promiscuity is WAY worse than shooting someone four times in the head in cold blood.

January 24, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - Desperate to repair the harm done to CAIR's undeserved reputation as a moderate Muslim organization caused by the revocation of an award made to the group by California Senator Barbara Boxer, today the Saudi funded Wahhabist pressure group engaged in spin-laden damage control."Since this misunderstanding occurred, we have been in constant contact with Senator Boxer and her staff to offer an accurate overview of CAIR and its 13-year history of positive social and political activism… We have addressed the issues related to this unfortunate and unnecessary incident." CAIR statement January 24, 2007

The "issues" relating to this event are CAIR's ties to terrorism, among which are that four of its members have been convicted on terror charges [see the December 5 article Ghassan Elashi's Sentencing Proves CAIR's Terror Ties, the latest of which is Ghassan Elashi, the founder of CAIR's Texas branch who was recently sentenced to six years in prison and who will again stand trial this summer on far more serious charges contained in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas prosecution.

Other "issues" are that CAIR still refuses to issue blanket condemnation against either Hamas or Hezbollah and has never offered a reasonable explanation about CAIR's relationship to the Islamic Association for Palestine IAP, widely believed to have been the United States' political wing of Hamas.

"The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which says it was 'established to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America,' was co-founded by Omar Ahmed, the same person who co-founded the Islamic Association for Palestine – the Hamas front organization which first published the Hamas charter in English – together with Hamas leader and Specially Designated Terrorist Mousa Abu Marzouk. CAIR's pro-Hamas and pro-Hezbollah positions should not surprise, given that it regularly rises to the defense of terrorism suspects and openly supports designated terrorist groups."At the time of the rescission of the award to Sacramento CAIR, Boxer's press secretary stated that Mrs. Boxer: "expressed concern" about some past statements and actions by the group, as well as assertions by some law enforcement officials that it "gives aid to international terrorist groups,"Not only did Senator Boxer instruct her staffers to rescind the award, she also told CAIR to remove a statement of hers endorsing the group from its website.

To our knowledge Mrs. Boxer's endorsement is still absent from CAIR's website and the award to Sacramento CAIR has not been reinstated so absolutely nothing has changed, including CAIR's shameless effrontery in face of the truth and transparent attempts to deceive.

More of CAIR's claptrap can be foundhere. (Bonus claptrap: Pelosi talking about 'wanting to put it all behind her." I'm not digging that visual.)Bwa-ha-ha-ha.

Netherlands:Comedian Should Be Killed According To IslamI saw this up over at Religion of Peaceand thought you're kidding me, right? Unfortunately, they weren't. Clicked around the links and found this interesting account on the blog of fellow traveler and Amsterdam residentSnouck Hurgronje.

"The person who is being threatened, Ewout Jansen, is the son of Dutch Islam-expert Hans Jansen. Hans Jansen wrote the commentary on the letter Van Gogh's assasin Mohammed Bouyeri left on the filmmaker's body. I translated the commentary and published it here.My summary. Fledgling comedian Ewout Jansen, makes "goat jockey" jokes about Muslims. Muslims in the audiences issue threats. Student paper Folia asks for interview with imam of As-Soenna Mosque. Imam turns up with As-Soenna spokesman / translator, Mr. Kabli. Folia interviews first imam, then the translator. Translator says serious Muslims should attack and kill "those who insult Islam, the religion of peace". Just as the letter Assasin Bouyeri left on Van Gogh's body says. There is an uproar in the press after Folia publishes the interview. Alderman Achmed Aboutaleb visits the mosque to have tea with the imam. He dissembles and declares to the Amsterdam city council that the translator was just a visitor to the mosque and has nothing to do with As-Soenna.Alderman Aboutaleb is a prominent Amsterdam Labour politician, who is bound to go into national politics in a few years. He is the great white hope of the struggling Labour party and commands the Morroccan Muslim voter base in the big cities. He is the face of the sophisticated Muslims, who pretent moderation and who know that nothing will endanger the chances of the umma to gain power so much as firing too early and shooting their bolt. "

Islam In Europe has some more info on the way the meeting went down."Assoenna Mosque claims that the person interviewed is not an official representative of the mosque and was just passing through. Folia, on the other hand, claims they talked to an interpreter named Mr. Kabli and that the mosque brought him to be interviewed. He spoke in the presence of several mosque leaders. The mosque's imam, Mohammed Bouljhaf, was also present during the interview, but left halfway through, before the comments were made."

I love this:"the person interviewed is not an official representative of the mosque and was just passing through."

Like he was some kind of Johnny Appleseed of terror or something. Or like those damn troublemaker Imams who pimped the Mohammed Cartoons. Remember that bunch? How they went slinking around the umma, stirring up trouble? And it looks like there are a lot of places to make muzzie mischief in the Netherlands. In 1970 there were only 8 mosques, now there are more than 450. Holy Muslim Shit Disturbers! Just like the assassination of Turkish journo, Hrant Dink, these so called 'holy men' are stirring that well known brown substance in the Netherlands, too.

In France they call the car-be-cue teens disaffected youth. In Turkey, they are calling them "inactive youth", I guess. I don't care what you call them Officer Krupke, but these days anywhere you find an assassination, a bombing, a beheading there's a Devil in the woodpile.

From the New Anatolian:OECD: Turkey's 'inactive' youth a time bombTurkey faces a gave threat from its swelling ranks of "inactive youth," warns a new Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report. In the wake of the reported confession of a 17-year-old to the murder of journalist Hrant Dink, the report said that Turkey has too many young people at loose ends.

"Inactive youths are those between 15 and 19 who have no jobs and are not at school," the report said. "In most OECD countries less than 10 percent of those aged 15 to 19 are inactive. Rates in excess of 10 percent were recorded in Turkey, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom."

Turkey is at the bottom of the list, as its percentage of inactive youth is 47.5 percent for women and around 25 percent for men.

Man, I didn't know that Turkey was that full of slackers! And the wimmen folk are definitely riding the back of the bus here, too. (Well, maybe not. It looks like they nabbed the assassin's girlfriend for something.)

Trabzon Governor Huseyin Yavuzdemir told a mass-circulation daily that police detained an 17-year-old girl who is said to be the girlfriend of Dink's killer Ogun Samast, along with a man. He said police may detain more teens in connection with the murder."

This admission is stunning:"Security measures alone cannot solve the problem, and there are many Oguns living here," he said. "Parents don't pay enough attention to their children. Unemployment causes teenagers to join gangs. As the region gave many martyrs to this nation, nationalist sentiments were rising in Trabzon. We cannot follow a young man without legal permits, and that is why the police didn't monitor Yasin Hayal, who spent 11 months in jail for a 2004 bomb blast outside a McDonald's, and was detained over the murder of journalist Hrant Dink."

This Yasin Hayal is the punk who hollered outthreatsto another journo, Orhan Pamuk during his court appearance. Who isOrhan Pamuk?"Like Dink, Pamuk also stood trial on charges of insulting Turkishness after telling a foreign journal, "We killed 1 million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds and nobody but me dares to speak out." Pamuk's case was dropped on technicalities, with some describing it as a maneuver by the Justice Ministry in an attempt to avoid further European Union pressure, but at the same time to appease the Turkish public. Pamuk has reportedly been receiving death threats and in the wake of Dink's killing has been given close protection.

Never trust anyone who quotes Robert Fisk.Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) leader Erkan Mumcu, speaking at a delayed party group meeting yesterday, branded the killing a plot to fabricate allegations against the Turkish people. "Certain circles try to create a Turkish profile of attacking innocent doves," said Mumcu, while also citing a column by Robert Fisk from the Independent who said Dink "made up" the figure 1.5 millions massacred Armenians."The plan was to create a fundamentalist Turk image," said the ANAVATAN leader quoting a remark by Dink himself branding Europeans the real reason for the hatred between Turks and Armenians.

Then there's this:Also yesterday, a mass-circulation daily published a photo of ultranationalist Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazicioglu with Erhan Tuncel, the third man allegedly behind the murder, prompting the party to issue a denial.

And this "Grand Unity Party" they speak of? They were also rumored to have ties to theshooting of five judges in May of 2006. Why were the judges shot? Ruling against the hijab/curtain munchers.

Here'sthe Wiki entry which reads in part:The alleged reasoning for the murder of Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin and wounding of four of his fellow judges was that they had previously voted against a Turkish school teacher being allowed to wear a traditional Islamic headscarf outside work.[2] One of the judges who was shot, voted in favour of allowing the teacher to wear a headscarf outside of work, while the other judges who were wounded, voted against.[1]

According to local news reports, the judges were in the midst of a daily meeting in the capital, when the gunman, who was later identified as a lawyer, burst into the room and fired his weapon. Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead later that day in a hospital in Ankara. Police captured the gunman as he tried to escape. According to witnesses, the lawyer shouted, "Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest). His anger will be upon you!"[1]

I hate to say"I told you so',but didn't I say that this punk was chosen because he wouldn't be subject to the harsh penalties an adult would? And that this is a time honored Muslim tradition? Here you go:

"According to Milliyet newspaper... after the arrest in Trabzon Hayal shouted out in the court, "I did it to punish Americans. I’ll get free in three years and will blow up HSBC Bank and the Russian Consulate."

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Pish-posh. Islam is a religion of peace. How can it be bad? And surely he can't be serious about that "Eurabia" business. That's positively Neander-con thinking. We'll always have Paris!"As many as 100,000 French and British citizens have converted to Islam over the last decade, according to a new book by an Israeli historian. The figures cited by Hebrew University Prof. Raphael Israeli in his upcoming book The Third Islamic Invasion of Europe are representative of the fast-changing face of Europe, which the Islamic history professor says is in danger of becoming "Eurabia" within half a century."

Oh yeah, what about this?He noted that about 30 million Muslims currently live in Europe, out of a total population of 380 million., adding that with a high Muslim birthrate in Europe, the number of Muslims living in the continent is likely to double within 25 years.

I'm starting to think that letting Turkey into the EU is NOT a good idea.Israeli also cited massive immigration and Turkey's future inclusion in the EU as the primary reasons why the face of Europe will be indelibly changed within a generation. European concerns over a fast-growing Muslim population is at the center of opposition to Turkey's entry into the EU, he said, as the inclusion of Turkey into the EU will catapult the number of Muslims to 100 million out of a total population of 450 million.

Think about it:"The sheer weight of demography will produce a situation where no Frenchman or Dutchman could be elected to parliament without the support of the Muslim minority," he said Monday in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.

I wonder, is Barrack Obama considered to be an apostate?Israeli noted that conversions in mixed marriages worked only in one direction since a Muslim woman who marries a Christian is considered an apostate in her community, and faces physical danger.

Our author's pants were scared off, too."It is time one should wake up and realize what is happening in Europe," he concluded.

Rome, 22 Jan. (AKI) - Souad Sbai, a leading member of Italy's government-appointed body on Muslim affairs, the Consulta, slammed on Monday a controversial appeal launched the previous day by a representative of Italy's largest Islamic group to make poligamy legal.

"I am worried and concerned about the plea made last night," said Sbai of the call made to the government on state television by Mohamed Baha' el-Din Ghrewati, a former imam in Milan with the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy (UCOII), to legalise a practice today banned in Italy so as to ensure, he said, that the rights of women living in poligamous families are protected.

"I am concerned that it is possible to make through a national broadcaster the apology of this practice as happened yesterday," said Sbai, who also heads the national association representing Moroccan women in Italy.

Sbai also said she means to place poligamy at the top of the agenda of an upcoming meeting of the Consulta.

Earlier this month Italy's main paper Corriere della Sera published a front page article in which a woman accused the leader of UCOII Hamza Piccardo of having married her as his second wife in a religious ceremony at a mosque in the northern city of Verona. Though a Muslim religious ceremony would not be recognised in Italy without a civil wedding, Corriere's report sparked a controversy as UCOII and other Muslim groups had publicly condemned poligamy.

Once again the Imams are shown to be lying sacks of shit. In public they condemn polygamy, but behind closed Mosque doors it's evidently another story. Bunch of heels.

Rome, 10 Jan. (AKI) - Italian conservative MP Daniela Santanche has received death threats over her opposition to the Muslim veil, Italy's leading paper Corriere della Sera reported in a front-page article on Wednesday.

Santanche reportedly received a letter in Arabic and English at her lower house office Tuesday night with pictures of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh, murdered in 2004 by an Islamist fundamentalist for his movie Submission, which denounced violence on women in Muslim countries, and Dutch MP Hirsi Ali, the film's author, who has also received death threats.

"This is the hour of my liberation...your time has come," the note said. The message also carried a paragraph from the BBC World website on 23 October, describing Santanche as an MP who "has said the veil is not required by the Koran" and has been described as "an infidel by an imam."

Santanche, a leading member of the right-wing National Alliance Party in Italy's opposition, has been under police escort since late October last year, when her criticism of the Muslim veil led to threats which were considered serious by security officials, including those of Muslim cleric Aby Shwaima, the imam of the mosque of Segrate in Milan and one of the founders of Italy's largest Muslim group UCOII, who slammed her as an "infidel" during a television show on Sky Italia on 20 October.

Shwaima's outrage was sparked by two television interviews given by Santanche in which she had said that the Muslim veil "is not a religious symbol and it is not required by the Koran" and that "it is not a symbol of freedom."

No, the Muslim veil, as it is worn today is no different than the white bedsheet and hood of the Ku Klux Klan.

Monday, January 22, 2007

"THE Australian flag has been banned from this year's Big Day Out in Sydney after organisers branded it a "gang colour" and symbol of hate.Organisers of the Aussie rock festival at Homebush will confiscate any flag or bandana bearing the national symbol at the gate.Labelling Sydney a hot bed of racism, producers of the Sydney Showground event said it will be the only city in the nationwide event to be subject to the draconian action.Promoters have already moved the event from the traditional Australia Day gig to a day earlier to avoid nationalistic overtones."The rabbit responds."You despicable chancres on the scrotum of humanity have no idea, no fucking idea at all, of what the flag represents."

Read it all and check out the Danish response in the comment section.Cheers - Dinah

Tehran, Jan 18, IRNA-The second national fashion show of Islamic and Iranian women's clothes opened at the Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCYA) in Tehran on Wednesday. The fashion show opened simultaneous with the inauguration of the permanent secretariat for the `Festival of My Homeland's Women' in the presence of the governor general of Tehran province, Kamran Daneshjou. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Daneshjou said that women are entitled to diversity of clothes, adding that observing the relevant (Islamic) codes is the right of the community and necessary for cultural identity. "Just as men have the freedom to choose various colors and designs, women should also have the option to select their favorite clothes according to Islamic codes.(Just so their selections resemble sleeping bags!)

"Using lively colors in designing clothes is not contradictory to legitimate Islamic codes, given that no particular color has been indicated by such codes," he added.(thanks for throwing us a fashion bone, Daneshjou.)

The official said that Iranian designs not only suit the taste of Muslim Iranian women, but they can also appeal to all women across the world.(Which will come in handy when the Shi'ites rule the world!)

Turning to the fact that the young generation is modernist and looking for changes, he said that responding to the needs of youth and presenting proper models in social and cultural fields to safeguard the Islamic and Iranian cultural identity is a duty. "If proper cultural models are not presented, the youth will rather imitate Western models," he added.(Um - ya think that's because the garb is more comfortable and suited to modern times?)

Editor's Note to Muslim men around the world: If you are so worried about your cultural identity why don't YOU slip into a damn shroud and creep around with YOUR face covered with an asinine curtain thingy????

These creeps were in attendance and IMO they could sure benefit from a curtain over their ugly pusses, no?

Sunday, January 21, 2007

HAIL, 20 January 2007 — Shoppers at a crowded shopping center in this north-central Saudi city caught a rare glimpse of a woman driving a car (rare, that is, if they’ve never traveled outside of the Kingdom), the daily Al-Watan reported yesterday. The 25-year-old was arrested in the city, but only after having driven 250 kilometers of highway from her farm to the south. Bystanders told the newspaper that they were amazed that the rebellious woman had made it that far. The brother of the woman said she had stolen her father’s car when he wasn’t looking. He said she had psychological issues. Perhaps she simply needed some drive time to herself.

One man's thinking on the current situation in Turkey - post Dink assassination.A clear provocation The timing of the incident, on the eve of negotiations on the “genocide bill” in the US Congress, raises many questions because our Prime Minister had said that if the law was passed it would harm relations between Turkey and the USA. In any case, Turkey is a considerably important country for the US under any conditions. Especially nowadays, while bogged down in Iraq and fighting with problems with Iran and Syria, the US cannot accept a distancing of Turkey. On the other hand, the Armenian genocide bill is an internal policy product of the US. The fact that it might be passed in the House of Representatives may inevitably pull Turkey away from the US. Meanwhile, Turkey may have disturbed many with its stance and attitude on Iraq and especially Kirkuk. There are persistent statements about a referendum later this year and Turkey has signaled its opposition and said it won’t remain passive on Kirkuk. Between Turkey and Kurds in northern Iraq the PKK is a web of problems in the two countries. Currently, Turkey has entered into dialogue with Iran and Syria, without the consent of the US. Turkey is encircled by fire if we take into consideration the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East. Regarding the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, some groups in Turkey talk of a regime problem. Moreover, some EU member countries are using the Armenian issue as a tool for their interests against Turkey. They are making efforts to keep Turkey away from the EU. Meanwhile, the fringe of the Armenian diaspora is working in prominent countries to institutionalize recognition of genocide and justify their own struggle.Sick. Sick. Sick.14 year-old girl sold by her family for 6 000 YTL

Farmers living in the Eastern Turkish Province of Muş have sold their 14 year-old daughter B.Ç. in marriage for 6,000YTL to Süleyman Hazar, 32, of Denizli. The girl became ill as she was to enter the bridal chamber and was rushed to hospital, where she asked doctors to help her. B.Ç. was taken into protection after doctors at the hospital informed the police about the marriage.

In the midst of the driest winter in many years, the southern Turkish province of Alanya has reacted with confusion and with faith. A protestant priest carried out a rain-prayer on the beach yesterday, follwed by the announcement that Mufti Muhammed Gevher would also perform a rain-prayer. Rain finally came an hour before the Mufti was to perform the prayer. This was not considered a reason to cancel the prayer, which took place as planned.

The past year has seen a 7% drop in the number of Turkish students going to the US to study, says a report prepared by the International Education Institute and funded by the Foreign Ministry in Ankara. The "Open Doors 2006" titled report notes that while there are currently 11,622 Turkish students receiving their educations in the US, this is 7% fewer students than there were in the US during the 2004-2005 period. Despite this drop though, the US is still ranked eighth in terms of foreign countries where Turkish students go to complete their higher educations. The "Open Doors 2006" report also notes that the total number of foreign students studying in the US is currently 564,766 down slightly from last year.

(Oh dear, I was working on this when my *&^% ISP went down for a week! Vox, please pardon my tardiness.)Thanks to gracious commentor vox, for taking the time to stop by and discuss Jefferson's Koran and the Barbary Pirates. You got me thinking Vox, and your point is well taken that Jefferson:

"...was, as always, interested in finding out about the laws of other nations and cultures...."

Just ask Sally Hemmings! (But, I digress.)

You further add:"He received Muslims in the President's House, and did not equate all Muslims with the Barbary Pirates."

Well, kum ba yah back at ya, bud. Jefferson is just like George Bush! For real! Think about it. George receives Muslims in the White House and he doesn't equate all Muslims with terrorists. Jefferson may have read the Koran but he was no fan of the jizya and he fought the Barbary Pirates because of it.A victory that lives on in this line of the Marine Hymn."From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, we will fight our country's battles on the land as on the sea."

Regarding Jefferson's version of the Koran; it was the George Sale translation and Sale viewed his translation of the Koran into English as being a weapon in the conflict with the "Mohammedans".

Today he would have a fatwa against him for it ala Salman Rushdie and the Satanic Verses. Or Theo Van Gogh. Or Hrant Dink.

One explanation of the Sale translation can be found at this tripped out sitehere.

For more than you ever wanted to know about the koran's publication there's this:"During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, several translations appeared both in Latin and in French, and one of the latter, by Andre du Ryer, was translated into English by Alexander Ross in 1649. But by far the most important work on the Koran was that of Luigi Marracci which was published in Padua in 1698. George Sale's translation first appeared in November, 1734, in a quarto volume; in 1764 it was first printed in medium octavo, and the reprint of 1825 contained the sketch of Sale's life by Richard Alfred Davenant which has been utilized in the article on Sale in the Dictionary of National Bibliography. The Chandos Classics edition in crown octavo was first issued in 1877."

Any infidel worth his pork rinds knows that part of the Muslim strategery involves 'gaming the system' to finance their activities and achieve their goals. They do it through illegal activities like drug dealing, food stamp forgery, infant formula dealing, cigarette smuggling, counterfeit luxury goods. They use charitable organizations as a front and take advantage of the islamic banking system, Hawala, to launder their funds.It has also been well documented that in many instances, a teenage brother is chosen to be the trigger man in honor killings. As minors they are not subjected to the harsh criminal penalties for adults and at 21 you find them back out on the streets, free as homicidal little birdies.Is the killing of the Turkish journo by the Muslim teenager more of the same? I had to dig to find it, but I finally did, down in paragraph 11 of this article over at the Irish Examiner.

Teenager 'confesses to killing of journalist' Police also detained six other suspects in Trabzon, including Yasin Hayal, a man convicted in the bombing of a McDonald's restaurant in Trabzon in 2004, whom police believe may have incited the attack, Turkish news reports said. Hayal was alleged to be an Islamic militant and said he learned to make bombs from Chechen militants at a camp in Azerbaijan. The bomb injured six passers-by and was apparently an attack aimed at punishing the US.

The last para in the article yields this little nugget.Intelligence expert Bulent Orakoglu and other analysts also questioned whether the attack against Dink could have links to the murder by a teenager of a Catholic priest in Trabzon last year.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Muslim-Catholic marriages on the rise in Italy"In 1991 there were 60,000 such “mixed marriages” registered in Italy; last year there were 600,000, Caritas reports." "Italian men preferred Filipino, Romanian, Peruvian, and Albanian women. In contrast, Italian women preferred Senegalese, Tunisians, and Moroccans. The more affluent northern section of Italy leads the way in mixed marriages."

"About 10% of the mixed marriages involve a Muslim with a Catholic spouse. In the vast majority of such cases, the children are raised as Muslims. If the wife is Catholic, statistics show that she is likely to convert to Islam. "

"Given the tensions that mark Italian culture today, it is not surprising that these mixed marriages are fragile-- although there too the figures show a geographical difference. The average Catholic-Muslim union lasts just 5 years in the northern city of Milan, and 13 years in southern Lecce. "

Police unsurprised by the Seventh Honor Killing of Ramle Family Member.The discovery of the body of 19-year-old Hamda Abu-Ganem in her home in the Ramle neighborhood of Juarish didn't surprise Ramle Police Superintendent Yigal Ezra. Although many people, including Ezra, tried to help Abu-Ganem run from the fate that awaited her, she remained in her parents' house - and became the seventh woman in her family to be murdered in an "honor killing" in as many years. Three youths were arrested for the crime yesterday and are expected to face a remand hearing today.

"A few young criminals in Juarish set up a group that decides which of the women has violated the honor of the family," said Ezra. "For instance, if a woman spoke to someone on a cell phone, or laughed with a man, that is sometimes considered a violation of the family honor, from their perspective. They plan how the murder will take place, who will carry it out and even find an alibi for the murderer. From the moment someone is marked, there is no way out."

Hard to imagine blaming the police for it..."Aida Touma-Suleiman, director of the non-profit Women Against Violence, said police are largely to blame for the continued deaths of Arab women in honor killings. 'The murderers are criminals, and the police have to get their hands on them, but they tend to look away, not investigate and not reach the [stage of] indictments,' she said. 'In the last 20 years, there have been 24 instances in which women have been murdered in Ramle and Lod. How many of the murderers were captured? When people have no sense of security, it's clear they won't go and talk to the police, because afterward they'll be hurt."

The police response...(and it is chilling.)Shfela region police, Commander Yifrah Duchovny, said it is outrageous to blame the police. "The police invest tremendous effort in every such murder case, but the work involved is much harder because there is a phenomenon of silent consent to these murders - whether from fear or because of worldview," he said. "The hardest part at these crime scenes is the quiet: Each time my stomach turns over in finding the body of a young girl, and around her the house is quiet. Everyone stands silent. There is no crying, there is no shouting and there is no cooperation."

Turkey's been in the news as of late, what with the assassination of a journo by some Muslim guy. A guy who was yelling "I shot the Infidel" (or non-Moslem depending on the news source) as he fled the scene. Oh, and did you know that Islam is the religion of peace?Back before 9/11 my husband and I were in the process of planning a trip to Turkey. I was even excited about it. Osama put a halt to those travel plans and I wouldn't go there now if you paid me. Oh, and about Istanbul? It's the "new capital" of 'honor killings'. I don't know - I can't figure out why they would even be considering allowing this camel to put it's nose in the EU tent. It just makes no sense to me.

Istanbul - the new capital of ‘honor killings' Milliyet yesterday featured a report on Istanbul's honor killing statistics in the past year. According to the report, one woman every two weeks was victim to a murder caused by traditional beliefs about a woman's place in society in Turkey's largest city. Milliyet said, according to data from a Parliamentary commission, Istanbul ranks first in the number of crimes related to protecting family honor. The same report found that violence against women and children was on the rise. Police in Istanbul said 18 honor killings occurred in Istanbul in 2000. In the following years until 2005, 19, 16, 17 and 24 such crimes took place while 25 women were victims of honor killings last year. According to police, two children were killed by their own parents in 2005. Milliyet said authorities believed educating the people was the only way out of violence against women and children. Culprits of honor crimes were almost always people from eastern or southeast Turkey, the report said. A lawyer from the Istanbul Governor's Human Rights Chair told Milliyet that the victims were usually women who risked getting caught and being murdered and ran away from domestic violence, almost always taking their children with them. In Istanbul, the total number of murders, rapes and beatings of women and children was 3,670, according to police records.